Chiesa di S. Margherita a Montici

The church, dedicated to Saint Margherita, martyr of Antiochia, is situated on a hill that dominates the valleys of the Arno and the Ema. It was probably built at the end of the 12th century and was first under the patronage of the Amidei family and then was passed to the Gherardini Family.

For a long time it was an object of conflict between these two families. As a matter of fact, in 1350 a tragic event occurred; the Amidei killed a member of the Gherardini Family who took shelter in the bell-tower.

One of the rectors of the church, Niccolò Gherardini, was a friend of Galileo, who was staying in the near Villa del Gioiello in Pian dei Giullari. The church has been restored many times throughout the centuries, until it was radically restored in 1970 in the interior and on the exterior.

The plain facade, made of stone, with a hut-like roof, has a central rose window and a portal. A broad embattled bell tower is placed above the apse.

The interior has one aisle at the end of which there is the two wide arches of the transept. The walls are all made in visible stone except the lateral ones of the transept which are plastered.

In the simplicity of the interior there are a few large frames made of stone which enclose pictorial works; on the left side of the transept there is an 18th century valuable organ. The roof has visible wood trusses, previously hidden by a staked ceiling that formed a vault that was covered with 18th century paintings. The apse has a cross vault.

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